Evaluating the Health Belief Model: A critical review of studies predicting mammographic and pap screening

Conclusions from empirical research employing the Health Belief Model (HBM) to investigate breast and cervical cancer and women's preventive health behaviors have been inconsistent and sometimes addressed contradictory, leading scholars to question utility of the model. Therefore we address utility of the HBM by conducting a comprehensive literature review. Using 10 electronic databases, we identified 39 published studies applying the HBM to mammographic and/or Papanicolaou (pap) screening. Overall, we found strongest support for the HBM's perceived benefit and barrier constructs, compared to other constructs. Weakest support was found for the HBM's perceptions of the disease construct. More recently collected data from nationally representative and ethnically/racially diverse samples, as well as more sophisticated methodological approaches are necessary to further evaluate the HBM. Social Theory & Health (2010) 8, 95-125. doi: 10.1057/sth.2009.23